Smartphone conferencing has in many respects simplified the manner in which a conference call can be made. Instead of having to contact each of the intended conference call participants well in advance of the conference call and provide them all with a dial-up number appropriate for their jurisdiction and a dial-in code, a smartphone user may simply install a conferencing call application (“app”) onto their smartphone and use that smartphone conferencing call app to make the conference call. The smartphone user simply selects a number of conference call participants from a contact list on their smartphone through the conferencing call app, and thereafter the smartphone calls each of the conference call participants and initiates the conference call between the smartphone user and the plurality of conference call participants. In this way, conference calls can be set up with little or no warning and this is particularly beneficial when it is necessary for a group of people to partake in a conference call at short notice.
There are however problems with the known smartphone conferencing call apps. For example, due to the fact that the smartphone dials out to all of the conference call participants, all of the conference call costs are borne by the smartphone user. Importantly though, irrespective of the added cost to the smartphone user for legitimate conference calls, there is also an increased risk of significant loss if the smartphone user should lose their smartphone and it were to fall into the hands of an unscrupulous individual, or indeed if the smartphone was stolen by such an individual. That individual could theoretically make calls to a large number of their friends or associates or otherwise run up significant costs before the smartphone owner recognised their loss and reported the smartphone missing.
Furthermore, the service provider of the smartphone conferencing call app also has a potential liability in the case of fraud and therefore the service providers are often unwilling, or at best reluctant, to extend credit to third parties. The smartphone users must usually contact the service provider in advance of any potentially expensive conference calls which diminishes the main benefit of the smartphone conferencing call app, namely that the conference call can be set up at very short notice. This is highly disadvantageous.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smartphone conferencing system and method of handling a smartphone conference call that overcomes at least some of the disadvantages of the known systems and methods.